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Tag: Local Elected Official

805: Peter van Vliet

Child Sexual Abuse Material
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Peter van Vliet is a Republican who was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Holyoke City Commission in 2014 and was re-elected, most recently in 2019. He also coached cross country, youth lacrosse and junior varsity basketball at Annunciation Catholic School, though not since Spring 2019. In December 2019, he was arrested and charged with 12 counts of possessing child sex abuse material (CSAM). He had 12 videos of children as young as two engaged in sex acts with other children or adults.

781: Patrick Trowbridge

Child Sexual Abuse Material
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Patrick Trowbridge was a City Councilor in Rockwell, Texas. He had filed for re-election in 2020 and was running unopposed. But then The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent a tip to the Rockwell police that someone in Rockwell was sending multiple videos of child sex abuse material. They tracked the IP address to Trowbridge, got a search warrant and found material on his phone. He pleaded guilty to one count of possessing CSAM and was sentenced to ten years in prison and 10 supervised release.

780: Wilmer Puello-Mota

Child Sexual Abuse Material
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He was extradited to Rhode Island for possession of child sexual abuse material. He refused to resign, but his seat was vacated after he was convicted of a bail violation. He attended a children’s Halloween party despite being ordered to stay away from children. He sued and was returned to office.

775: Vernon Jones

Intimidation, Menacing, Rape
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Running in the Republican Congressional primary in 2022, his opponents brought up allegations of rape that were made in 2005 by a woman who dropped the charge “out of fear.” According to her report to the police, he said he knew where she lived and he would find her. In an egregious act of police misconduct, the Dekalb County police chief whom Vernon Jones had appointed released her identity to the press with the incident report. She wrote a note saying she would not testify because of the harassment and the release of her name. She never recanted.

771: Andrew Wilhoite

Murder
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Andrew Wilhoite won the Republican primary for the Clinton Township Board in Indiana even though he had been charged with his wife’s murder. She had cancer and had recently finished chemotherapy. She found out he had an affair and filed for divorce. He struck her in the head with a flowerpot and threw her body in a nearby creek.

759: John Gray

Solicitation of a Minor
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John Gray was the president of the Goshen, Ohio, school board when he was caught in a Predator Catchers Muncie sting. He had served five terms on the school board. He showed up in Farmland, Indiana to meet who he thought would be an eleven-year-old girl. He was charged with soliciting a minor.

752: Lou Nakapalau

Child Sexual Abuse Material
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The incident got national attention and regional media did some basic research on Nakapalau and discovered he had been convicted of nine counts of possession child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in 2000. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail though he spent 52 on work release. He had a further five years probation.

750: Richard West

Child Molestation, Child Sexual Abuse Material
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He was also a member of Bikers Against Child Abuse. That seems ironic on the surface, but child predators seek out opportunities to come into contact with children. Through BACA he was presented as someone trustworthy. BACA severed any relationship after the arrest. They released a statement that said:

“B.A.C.A. Oklahoma and International was recently made aware of the allegations against a now former member. We regret to hear of the reported and unacceptable actions of this individual, and they represent a violation of the core of our organization’s Mission, which is to empower children to not be afraid of the world in which they live.”

749: John Hammock

Familial Abuse & Violence
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John Hammock served as Tallassee, Alabama’s mayor for six years. He resigned in June after losing a Republican primary race for a position on the Public Service Commission. This was after he was arrested in January 2022 for domestic violence, attempting to strangle his wife who was granted a protection order. He was alleged to have assaulted her with his hands and feet (wearing boots) and attempting to strangle her while threatening to kill her.

745: Charles Jandris

Child Sexual Abuse Material
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Charles Jandris was a former city council member and former member of the Planning Board in Mahwah, NJ and the finance director of a day care center. He was arrested for possession of child sexual abuse material.

He could have been sentenced to ten years in prison but was sentenced in 2021 to five years probation.